The saga of Benicia’s Valero Refinery might lastly have an official finish date.
Regardless of legislators working across the clock to reverse the choice, Benicia Metropolis Supervisor Mario Giuliani informed the Instances-Herald on Monday that, “Benicia can now proceed with the closure of the refinery in April or possibly sooner.”
RELATED: California in talks to pay a whole lot of thousands and thousands to Valero to stave off Bay Space refinery shutdown
Final April, Valero Vitality Company’s subsidiary, Valero Refining Firm-California, submitted discover to the California Vitality Fee of its intent to idle, restructure, or stop refining operations on the Benicia Refinery by the tip of subsequent April.
“Now we’re going to have significant and seismic changes,” the town supervisor mentioned.
“It’s a problem we’re going to have to solve and it’s certainly difficult,” Giuliani mentioned. “But while a difficult challenge, Benicia has been given the pen to be the author of the next chapters of the cities history.”
SB 237 responds to the state’s shifting vitality panorama, the place refinery closures, declining gasoline demand, and reliance on imports have left households, employees, and communities weak.
Valero Vitality Company has owned and operated the Benicia Refinery since 2000. The refinery was initially constructed for Humble Oil, later known as Exxon. Development of the ability started in 1968 and was accomplished in 1969.
Valero Vitality Company, by means of its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), is a multinational producer and marketer of petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical merchandise, and sells its merchandise primarily in america, Canada, the UK, Eire and Latin America.
Valero owns 15 petroleum refineries positioned in america, Canada and the UK with a mixed throughput capability of roughly 3.2 million barrels per day.
Valero Headquarters in San Antonio, and has greater than 9,900 workers, with roughly 400 on the Benicia venue. That refinery has a throughput capability of 170,000 barrels per day, in line with the corporate. In line with a listing from the California Vitality Fee, Benicia has 8.94 p.c of the state’s crude oil capability.
“We understand the impact that this may have on our employees, business partners, and community, and will continue to work with them through this period,” mentioned Lane Riggs, Chairman, CEO and President of Valero.
In the meantime, Wilson’s laws goals to strengthen security requirements for offshore oil and fuel pipelines, directs state companies to judge client protections on the pump, prohibits drilling permits in well being safety zones, and takes steps to stabilize gasoline costs for California households.
SB 237 additionally directs the California Vitality Fee, in session with the Air Sources Board, to discover short-term suspensions of the state’s summer time gasoline mix if it will shield customers from vital worth will increase. As well as, the Vitality Fee is tasked with learning the potential for a western regional gasoline mix to stabilize markets and submitting suggestions to the Legislature on methods for a protected, equitable, and reasonably priced transition away from fossil fuels.
Whereas Valero is an enormous a part of Benicia enterprise, is it not with out its critics — notably after the refinery grew to become the positioning of a collection of air air pollution incidents. This features a hydrogen vent on the refinery that had been leaking 2.7 tons of toxics into the air for 15 years. That discovery resulted in an historic $84 million fantastic imposed by the Bay Space Air High quality Administration District (an oversight company) in 2024.
Critics additionally level to inspectors reporting that Valero administration had recognized in regards to the leaks for years, however did not report them or take steps to mitigate the leak. The fantastic reportedly was the most important penalty ever assessed by the district.
Valero was one in all 4 different refineries that in 2023 didn’t meet necessities as outlined by BAAQMD and Rule 12-15. That rule — handed in 2016 — requires refineries to observe and report fugitive gasses from their working tools, similar to valves, compressors, and storage tanks. These emissions affect the well being of the encircling communities — the poisonous gases launched embody noxious chemical substances just like the cancer-causing benzene.
The Benicia Metropolis Council on April 2 voted 5-0 on a security ordinance that goals to assist shield Benicians in opposition to potential fires, explosions and poisonous emissions related to the Valero Refinery and different services inflicting well being considerations within the metropolis. Earlier than the vote, Benicia was beforehand the one Bay Space refinery city to not but have an Industrial Security Ordinance.
Nevertheless, the Benicia Metropolis Supervisor mentioned that the Benicia Metropolis Council passing an Industrial Security Ordinance 5-0 earlier in April was a separate entity and that the explanations for the potential departure had extra financial and political causes.
Initially Revealed: September 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM PDT
